Mission Lessons from the life of
Gladys Aylward
Family
 Born on 24th February 1902 in
London
Had a sister and brother
From a working class family (Dad
was a mailman)
Background
• Became a maid at 14
• Her call to missions came about when she
attended a revival meeting at 18 years where
the preacher expounded on giving one’s life
over to the service of the Lord
• In her mid 20s she applied to China Inland
Mission Centre in London
• This ended in failure at 26 when she failed her
exams and was rejected for service as a
missionary (they also told her she was too old
and unfit to learn the difficult language of
China).
• She decided if she wouldn’t go to China with
CIM she would go on her own. She went back
to work as a maid and started saving up for
the trip
• Four years later, at 30, she heard of an aging
missionary in China, Mrs. Lawson who was
looking for someone to take over after her.
• Wrote to Mrs. Lawson and was accepted,if she
could get herself to China
• With passport, Bible, train tickets and 2
pounds 9 pence she boarded a train and set
off for China (couldn’t afford to travel by ship)
• She bought a one way ticket and in October
1930 she set off to China by the Trans-Siberian
Railway, despite the fact that China and the
Soviet Union were engaged in an undeclared
war.
• At one point on her journey she was asked to
get off the train as it was being used to carry
only Russian soldiers. She insisted on staying
and was dropped off later in the middle of
nowhere to eventually retrace her steps on
foot and take another train through Siberia.
• Her journey was far from interesting as she
was illegally detained in Siberia and was going
to be used as labour in the factories. She said
she was a missionary and they said they
needed machinists.
• She travelled by train, ship, bus, mule and
finally got to Yangchen in the mountaneous
province of Shansi in China where she met
Mrs. Lawson.
• The residents had never seen foreigners
before and distrusted them, calling them
‘white devils’.
• Yangchen was an overnight stop for mule
caravans that carried coal, raw cotton, pots,
and iron goods on six-week or three-month
journeys. It occurred to the two women that
their most effective way of preaching would
be to set up an inn.
Titles
• The small woman
• Ai-wei-dei (The Virtuous One)
Quotes
• “I wasn’t first choice for what I’ve done in
China”
Humble in spirit, Gladys once made this comment to a
friend, "I wasn't God's first choice for what I've done for
China. There was somebody else. I don't know who it
was --- God's first choice. It must have been a man --- a
wonderful man, a well-educated man. I don't know what
happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn't willing.
And God looked down and saw Gladys Aylward.“
• ‘Oh, God, here’s me, here’s my Bible, here’s
my money. Use us, please, use us.‘
Lessons
1. God uses ordinary faithful people
- In many ways Gladys Aylward was ordinary. She had a
simple education, a low paying job, few possessions,
and was rejected by a missionary school.
- Gladys’ life shows that despite personal flaws, God
can use a willing faithful person.
- Gladys once wrote: “My heart is full of praise that one
so insignificant, uneducated, and ordinary in every
way could be used to His glory for the blessing of His
people in poor persecuted China”
• “… think of what you were when you were
called, Not many of you were wise by human
standards; not many were influential; not
many were of noble birth. v27 But God chose
the foolish things of the world to shame the
wise; God chose the weak things of the world
to shame the strong. v28 God chose the lowly
things of the world and the despised things –
and the things that are not – to nullify the
things that are, v29 so that no one may boast
before Him”" (1 Cor 1:26-29)
• “When they saw the courage of Peter and
John and realised that they were unschooled,
ordinary men, they were astonished …” (Acts
4:13)
• “..without faith it is impossible to please God”
(Hebrews 11:6a)
• Question to ponder: Is God more impressed by
your talents or your faithfulness?
2. Desire to be used by God to achieve His purposes
• “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,
because you know that your labor in the Lord is not
in vain” (1 Cor 15v58)
• “Each of you should use whatever gift you have
received to serve others, as faithful servants of God’s
grace in various ways” (1 Peter 4v10)
• Gladys Aylward had a burning desire to be used by
God. She would pray: “Oh, God, here’s me, here’s
my Bible, here’s my money. Use us, please, use us”
and God certainly answered her prayer.
• Resilience (and that it is by God’s grace and
strength)
• Love for the people we’re reaching out to
• Selflessness